Yogurt Frenzy

A creamy and rich natural choice of yogurt that is cheaper and healthier!

We eat so much yogurt, sometimes its not even funny! Well here in Costa Rica we are trying to keep our tummies happy by keeping those good bacteria in our systems! So… we decided to try making our own since we practically buy the store out every time we go. Plus, making yogurt homemade means not as much sugar that you would normally find in regular store bought yogurt. It’s a win, win! :)

I am not much of a natural yogurt fan, but having loads of it after making a batch actually opens up huge creativity doors to making new flavors! I’ve added peach, strawberry jam, vanilla, etc.. It’s so fun and delicious!

Ok, so are you ready for the recipe?? It’s so hard, I don’t think you’ll be able to do it… (you’ll be surprised how easy this is!!)

Homemade Yogurt 

Ingredients:

– 2 liters of milk

– 2 teaspoons of natural yogurt (store bought, this is the mother, also save some from this batch to use as your mother next time)

– 1/4 cup of powdered milk

Directions:

Pour milk into a large pot and add the powdered milk. Stir until it is mixed in. Heat milk in a saucepan until temperature rises to 180 degrees.  Check out our digital thermometer we use!  It is Important not to go over 180 degrees, try to get it as exact as possible. Once milk reaches a temp of 180, hold at this temperature for 5 minutes. Then remove from heat and let milk cool until it reaches 120 degrees.

At this point you can remove about a cup of warm milk from the pot and add in the teaspoon of yogurt. (This just helps it get mixed in better. Just gently stir, you want to see chunks of the yogurt in the milk – incorporating not mixing. Then pour the cup of milk with mixed in yogurt back into the rest of the milk mixture.

Pour into glass containers for storage. Place the milk in a slightly warm (not hot) place for 10-12  hours. We hold our yogurt at about 105-110 degrees for the duration of the incubation. Refrigerate when done. Yummy!

*Tips:

We make the yogurt after dinner usually so it can just sit overnight and you don’t have to worry about it. You can place it in a oven at the lowest temp possible. We place ours in an ice chest with a pot of boiling water to keep it warm. Also, I usually double/triple the recipe because we go through it fast. Remember to keep a few teaspoon of your batch so you can use this as your “mother yogurt” for your following batch! If you do this, you will always have yogurt!

** If you like your yogurt Greek style, then before putting the yogurt into the refrigerator, strain the yogurt for 5-10 minutes through a cheesecloth. Doing this extracts the whey, giving you a thicker, creamier yogurt. This is always my preference and its so yummy!

Add-in suggestions:

Coconut & Pineapple
Jam (flavor of your choice – I like strawberry)
Peaches
Vanilla Flavoring (Starbucks has a yummy vanilla syrup)
Berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)
Jello powder? (my husband thinks this is the best idea ever :)
Granola Check out this recipe
Strawberry & Honey – 1/2 cup yogurt + 4 chopped strawberries + 1 tablespoon honey
Lemon Cheesecake – 1/2 cup yogurt + 2 tablespoons lemon curd+ 1 crushed Graham cracker
Mixed Berry – 1/2 cup yogurt + 4 chopped strawberries + 6 chopped raspberries + 6 chopped blackberries
Cinnamon Apple – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 diced green apple + 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Key Lime Pie – 1/2 cup yogurt + juice of 1 lime + 1 crushed Graham cracker
Apple & Raisin – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 diced green apple + 2 tablespoons raisins
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1 tablespoon peanut butter + 1 tablespoon cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon honey + 1 teaspoon milk chocolate chips
Chocolate Banana – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1 tablespoon cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon honey + 1/2 diced banana
Strawberry Shortcake – 1/2 cup yogurt + 4 chopped strawberries + 1 crushed Graham cracker
Peaches & Cream – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1 chopped peach
Piña Colada – 1/2 cup yogurt + 2 pineapple rings diced + 1 tablespoon grated coconut
Chocolate Pomegranate – 1/1 cup yogurt + seeds from 1/2 pomegranate + 1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips
Pumpkin Pie – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/4 cup pumpkin puree + 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Chunky Monkey – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 chopped banana + 1 tablespoon Nutella + 1 tablespoon peanut butter + 1 teaspoon milk chocolate chips
Tropical – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 chopped kiwi + 1/2 chopped mango + 2 pineapple rings diced
Cinnamon Bun – 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1 tablespoon honey

A few add in suggestions {adapted from Pink Recipe Box}

It has been really fun learning to make yogurt and I hope you will enjoy the process as well! It’s great for kids too! They love checking on the yogurt to see how it’s doing! Someday we would love to get a yogurt maker but for now this is just as fun!

Let me know how your yogurt turns out!